A/N: Trigger warning for cannibalism

The paper had a stiffness to it, a sense of luxury, that he had never before seen, but it was not until he turned the letter over and saw eagle stamped into the red seal that he realized who must have sent this letter. Quickly, he tore open the envelope, and his stomach twisted into a knot as he read the message. "Is everything all right? Did I give you the wrong message?" the messenger boy asked, concerned. The child couldn't have been more than nine or ten. Terrible how quickly war made children grow up.

He shook his head and gave the sandy-haired boy a reassuring smile. "It's fine. Thank you, James. You're doing a very good job." And it should have been. With Two's recent strikes, the Capitol had to be on its last legs. He had been expecting news of a ceasefire for weeks now. Everything was going according to plan. With a wave and another quick thanks, the child went off on his way, but he could not so easily dismiss his concerns. Though said she was ready for peace, he could not bring himself to believe it. General Rainiers folded the note into uneven fourths and stuffed it into his breast pocket before reaching for his battered old walkie-talkie. The message was addressed to him alone, but the other leaders needed to know about this as soon as possible. With any luck, the war was, for all practical purposes, over.

Nine's other top military officials did not share his concerns. "She should be ready to give in," his lieutenant said. "She's lost all her allies. The woman's not an idiot. She knows she can't win."

Rainiers ran his fingers through the few gray hairs that he still had. "Still, something feels wrong about this," he replied. After months of constant warfare, such a huge change was not something to be blindly accepted. Still, he could see the undeniable logic behind the president's move. "Don't worry, Mina, I'm going to do it. I'm just not sure about this whole thing. There's something off." He couldn't help but feel that he would have this exact conversation later with the rest of Nine's high-ranking officers. Best to get used to it, he supposed.

"Or maybe you're just being overcautious. There's every reason for her to want to surrender before an invasion of the Capitol. The woman's trying to maintain what little power she still has."

He had to nod at that. "It's always a good possibility. I suppose we'll see what President Cardinal really wants in a few days."

"Very good, sir."

And on some level, he had to admit it was.

The hovercraft arrived at five in the evening two days later, just as the letter had promised. As it touched down on the torched field, left barren after an early riot, the blast of warm exhaust forced Rainiers to hold his hat tight against his head to keep it from flying away. A handful of white-armored Capitol soldiers began to disembark. "Armed, but nothing too intense. That's a good sign," Liesel said.

He nodded but did not look away from the Capitol troops. "I would have been more concerned had they shown up without any weapons at all. There's no way that wouldn't be a trap."

"That's because you're a crusty, untrusting old man," his wife laughed. She rose up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Good luck, and I'll see you when the war's over."

"You think I'll need it?" He winked at her, and she pulled him down for another kiss.

"Stay safe and come back to me in one piece?"

He smiled. "I'll do my best." He hugged her and gave her one more kiss for just in case, and then it was time to leave. "I love you. See you again very soon."

"I love you too." Liesel waved as he strode towards the cadre of soldiers, trying to cloak his nervousness with false confidence. The new armor design covered the soldiers' eyes and face, and when he looked at them, he saw more machine than human staring back at him, and Rainiers had to suppress a shiver. Another benefit, from the Capitol's point of view at least, of the new visor was that he could find no clue of their intentions in their faces. Still, they held their weapons at their sides, and that would have to be enough for now. He had accepted months ago that he would probably die during this rebellion.

Once he passed the first guard, they formed up around him and marched him into the hovercraft. He looked over his shoulder for just a second to see his wife's face one last time, and then, he was in enemy territory. There was no going back now.

His unease lifted somewhat during the flight. Curiosity kept him from worrying; he had never stepped foot outside Nine's boundaries in his fifty-four years, and Rainiers was not going to miss this chance to see the rest of Panem, even if it was just from the window of a hovercraft. Nine looked different from up here, all green and gold and gorgeous. The river that split the district in half was only a curving blue line from this vantage point. Soon, though, the landscape changed. Fields morphed into hills that melted into mountains, and gold and green were replaced with blues and purples. "Sir, we'll be landing soon." Only a minute later, he saw the first skyscraper peeking through a gap between the mountains. Ah, the Capitol. On the ground, it seemed a world away, but they had been in the air for only half an hour.

Though the landing was gentle, Rainiers held tightly onto his armrests until the hovercraft was safely on the ground again. "Come along, sir. Our orders are to take you directly to the Presidential Mansion." He was whisked into an armored vehicle, and a short ride later, he found himself in front of a building familiar from decades of propaganda footage. The stone façade of the Presidential Mansion looked no less grand than it had at the beginning of the war. Perhaps only the districts had suffered through the last few months.

He had little time to ponder the possibility, as he was quickly ushered into the building. There, the very woman he'd been fighting against awaited him. "General Rainiers, so pleased to finally meet you in person." In person, her voice had the same authoritative edge he was used to from the broadcasts, but President Cardinal was far more petite than he had pictured her. In real life, she looked not unlike what little he could remember of his grandmother, and the thought brought back the same unease he had felt at reading her message two days prior.

Still, he could not allow his discomfort to get in the way of peace. "Thank you, Madam President. I'm glad that the day to talk peace has finally come." He held out his hand, and she shook it.

"Aren't we all," the woman smiled as she spoke, and when she let go of his hand, she gestured down the corridor. "The troops who escorted you were a little behind schedule. The others have already gathered. I hope you won't be disappointed if we put off negotiations for dinner. I know many of the representatives from the further-out districts have had very long journeys, and I would like to give them a chance to rest before we talk politics."

He agreed that dinner sounded like an excellent idea, and they walked side by side down the cavernous hall, the click of her heels echoing off stark, white granite walls. The occasional white-garbed attendant stood in front of one of the many twenty-foot-high doors, and each of them bowed slightly at the waist as they passed, but Cardinal did not acknowledge any of them until they arrived at the final door. She barely even looked at the two attendants, but they wordlessly opened the doors, revealing a table set for thirteen. Eleven of the seats were already filled with the other districts' nervous representatives, a few of which he recognized from the inter-district intelligence reports that had been smuggled into Nine, and Rainiers sat himself between the man from Eight and the woman from Nine.

President Cardinal smiled and waited for him to get settled before nodding to the servants to shut the door. Rainiers' stomach dropped when he heard a heavy bolt slide into place. They were trapped. "I assume many of you have observed that no delegate from District Thirteen is with us this evening," she began.

A few brave souls nodded, but most merely watched and waited for her to continue.

"Many of you, I'm sure, are familiar with Commander Bloodworth from Thirteen." This time, nobody dared speak. "A few days ago, we received a request from this Mister Bloodworth to negotiate a peace between us. Needless to say, we had little use for traitor scum that chose to act as though they had some amount of control over this nation." Her voice morphed into a snarl as she spoke, and Rainiers could not stop himself from pushing himself back against the seat in a vain attempt to get away from the woman. Harsh, almost animal gray eyes met his for only an instant before staring down the other members of the table. "The Capitol will accept only an unconditional surrender."

Was the woman mad? All of the districts were banded against her, and without the constant influx of supplies from the districts, her people must be desperate. The residents of the Capitol had never known hunger.

Rainiers studied her. Did she really think she could win, or was this all an elaborate bluff? He sneaked a glance at the other delegates, but all of them seemed as confused as him. His fingernails were digging deep into the plush armrests of his chair, and he forced himself to let go. "Now, let me show you what happened to District Thirteen when they made this request." Someone must have been watching or listening in, because at her words, a screen descended from a newly-formed slit in the ceiling. All of them waited in silent terror as an image came into focus.

For a moment, he couldn't comprehend what was before him. A vast landscape, dotted only by a few shelled-out, deeply charred buildings and blackened clumps dotted like confetti over the ground. Slowly, he realized that he was staring at a field of bodies, all that remained of District Thirteen. The woman next to him was shaking now, and after a moment, he realized he was as well. If the president could order this done to Thirteen, the best-armed and most powerful of the districts, what could she do to a group of poor farmers like Nine?

President Cardinal was far from finished. "No survivors, and the land around it will be poisoned for at least two hundred years. That took two nuclear weapons." She paused for a moment, allowing the information to sink in. "Our experts estimate that none of your districts would take more than twelve. We have three hundred left. I assume the rest of you will not make as unintelligent of a decision as your former comrades in Thirteen did."

A rustle of noise came from the table, but she silenced it with a look. "Now, I would be an ungracious host to force you all into a decision on empty stomachs. Let's continue this discussion after dinner." With a snap of her fingers, a massive silver tray was brought in, hoisted on the shoulders of two of the president's white-suited attendants who placed it gingerly at the very center of the table.

The eyes of the beast stared at him sightlessly, the entire face frozen in perfect agony. Rainiers could see the man's hands bound tight against his waist, but his positioning, limbs at strange angles, head back and to the side, spoke of torturous final moments. The warm golden brown of his flesh and the apple delicately balanced in his mouth, still open in a silent scream, only mocked the horror.

"Though he was a fool, I thought it would be a pity if we did not allow your friend Mister Blackworth to join us for dinner. Now now, do eat up. In your misguided attempt at self-governance, you've nearly starved all of us. There's no purpose in wasting such a lovely meal."